Camp

While hanging out with friends on Friday night, we were introduced to Ozzie and Bianca who are dog mushers from Norway and are here working as dog handlers for Ed Iten, who is a top Iditarod racer from Kotzebue. They were headed into Kotzebue from Ed's camp (the term for a person's home or cabin that is outside of town) to pick up a bunch of new dog houses for the 110 they take care of, when their snow machine broke down on the way. We mentioned to the girls that we have snow machines and a sled and would be more than willing to help them get back with whatever gear we could. So, on Saturday morning Michael and I, along with a few other friends headed out to Ed's camp, complete with about 20 dog houses. It was pretty amazing to see a real working Iditarod dog camp in person!

Michael and Reid on the way out to camp, with the dog houses:


Ed Iten's house (not much like a cabin!):

They use solar and wind power for their power, and wood stoves for heat.


The outhouse, complete with a white grizzly bear fur for the door:

Me inside the house with the Norwegians:

Michael and I also got to help feed the 110 sled dogs!

Michael chopping up high-protein dog food:

Some of the dogs (yes, they live outside all winter long!):

Michael feeding the dogs:

Kelly feeding the dogs:

Workin' hard:

Getting ready to head home after a fun day (this picture was taken around 10:30pm):

We had an amazing day out at camp. The weather is warming up, so it's really nice to get out; it's incredible how warm 30 degrees can feel after a long winter of temperatures below zero!

We only have 3 weeks left of school, which we can hardly believe. We are getting excited to come home and see friends and familyl, but we know that we will miss our new friends here while we are gone!